An explosion on a bus in central Nairobi Monday killed at least one person and wounded several others, police said, without giving details.

The bus, bound for the Ugandan capital Kampala, was stationed on a busy street in downtown Nairobi, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately clear whether the explosion was accidental.

Uganda’s police chief Monday said he had “strong indications” that Islamist militant groups were planning terrorist attacks there over the Christmas period.

Inspector General Kale Kayihura had told AFP that the threats emanated from the Shebab, a Somali insurgent group which has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, and the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group.

Uganda in July suffered East Africa’s worst attacks in 12 years when suicide bombers struck two Kampala bars, killing 76 people.

The Shebab claimed the coordinated bomb attacks and warned that any country supporting the central Somali government it is battling in Mogadishu and the rest of Somalia would be a target.

Three Kenyan police officers were killed in two separate gun and grenade attacks in Nairobi earlier this month.

The motive behind the attacks remains unclear and Kenya said it had asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help it probe the incidents.

Following the attacks, Kenyan police arrested hundreds of people in the Eastleigh neighbourhood, an area overwhelmingly populated by Somalis, and argued that tighter security would be enforced during the holiday season.

Source: Agency France Press

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